U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany, R-Louisana, said in his response to President Barack Obama's address that he "read the bill Democrats passed through committee in July" and it "creates 53 new government bureaucracies."

Complaints that those in the United States illegally would get benefits under the health-care bill now before the House of Representatives have been a staple of the raucous public meetings some members of Congress have been hosting during their August break. At least two people raised the issue at a forum held by Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Maryland, on August 12, and Cardin's insistence that "Illegal aliens will not be in this bill - period - the end" was met with a round of jeers.

"If you are among the hundreds of millions of Americans who already have health insurance through your job, Medicare, Medicaid, or the VA, nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have," President Barack Obama said during his September 9 address to Congress.

President Barack Obama said in his September 9 address to a joint session of Congress that "those of us with health insurance are also paying a hidden and growing tax for those without it - about $1,000 per year that pays for somebody else's emergency room and charitable care."

Complaints that those in the United States illegally would get benefits under the health-care bill now before the House of Representatives have been a staple of the raucous public meetings some members of Congress have been hosting during their August break. At least two people raised the issue at a forum held by Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Maryland, on August 12, and Cardin's insistence that "Illegal aliens will not be in this bill - period - the end" was met with a round of jeers.

The Statement: The Obama administration's revamp of the U.S. health-care system will require $500 billion in cuts in Medicare, the federal health program that now covers Americans over 65. The claim is now a cornerstone of Republican efforts to resist the administration's plans, with GOP chief Michael Steele vowing in a Washington Post opinion piece to defend Medicare from cuts.

The Statement: A citizen asked U.S. Rep. Mike Ross, D-Arkansas, at an August 14 town meeting in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, "How soon can you do something about our health care that has to be fixed? ... When will this take place? When will this reform take place? Do you have a goal in mind?"

The Statement: The number of people unable to get health insurance in the United States is only about 8 million, far lower than the total of 46 million that the Census Bureau says lack health insurance. Several people at congressional town hall meetings have cited the figure to argue that the sweeping congressional proposals to expand health coverage are unnecessary.

(CNN)–The statement: Cindy of Covington, Georgia, asked CNN: "Why doesn't the government make mandatory prices for doctors and their services? That is the problem! They all charge outrageous prices and they vary from place to place. Will that change under the new plan?"

The facts: President Barack Obama and health reformers in Congress are trying to influence how prices get set by creating a government-run public insurance option that would compete with private plans in a so-called Health Insurance Exchange. They say private doctors, private hospitals, and private insurers will be free to set their own prices.

The public insurance option would be a government-funded, government-run health care program similar to Medicare - the government health insurance program for people age 65 and older - and doctor participation in the plan would be voluntary.